“Man Devoted to Making the World Better, Dies at 39.

Achilles Romero, or just Romero as he preferred to be called, was a doctor, lawyer,

politician, and writer. On June 17, 1957, the day of the election, Romero visited his childhood
friend, Eddy Brown, at New York City Hall. After handing his friend a notebook, he was shot in
the heart in the main hall by an unknown shooter. Romero was quickly taken to St. Vincent
Hospital and was confirmed dead shortly after.
Born December 23rd, 1908, Romero discovered his passion for healing people as a child.
After school, he often assisted his single mother, April née Sanchez, who worked as a nurse at
St. Vincent’s hospital. The two were regular attendants at St. Peter’s Cathedral and participated
in many charitable events, sometimes even hosting them. His father had left them when Romero
was young and so April would tell the young boy that he had been a doctor overseas when he
died. Romero used to tell his teachers when he was younger that it was his father who inspired
him to become a doctor. When he was older, however, he discovered his father was actually a
deadbeat alcoholic who ran away to start a new life. His mother died when he was 11 from
tuberculosis and he soon moved in with his mother’s brother afterward.
In high school, he devoted his time working at his uncle’s newspaper company, the New
York Observer. During his time there he occasionally wrote articles reporting about local events,
particularly crimes, and was also a columnist for the Inside Reporter section. Achilles also
sought to deepen his knowledge of medicine through shadowing doctors, volunteering at
hospitals, and delving into his studies. Though he was busy, he always made time to help out
people, whether it be straightening out disputes between tenants or helping out financially, by
chipping in money for groceries and late payments, when he could. Amongst the local
community, he was regarded as fondly as a family friend and would attend evening dinners with
neighbors. When he was just shy of the age of 18, he received a full scholarship to Yale.
Once Romero graduated, he worked at St. Vincent as a surgeon for a year before being
drafted to help the American efforts in World War ll as a surgeon and occasionally a frontline
medic in Europe. This continued until his left leg was severely injured, which left him with a
very slight limp later on, and he was sent back home. Upon his return to New York, he quickly
became a popular figure. He helped restore a crumbling orphanage, “The Little Angel Orphanage
Home”, and created, “Physicians for Affordable Medication”, a charity which helped provide
medication for those who could not afford it. At the same time, he was also gaining traction in
the political arena by his vocal presence among senators towards certain bills. Romero was
compensated for his injuries in the war. He used the money to go to Harvard, where he went on
to pursue a degree in law and later become a defense attorney who specialized in criminal law.
As a lawyer, Judge Johnson described him as a ”divisive figure” in the courts. He was
never swayed by money, spoke up for anyone without a voice, and took cases that most lawyers
would avoid. One of his famous cases was the Simon vs Algers in which Romero defended
Simon, an African American man, from false charges of murder. Consequently, he ended up
receiving several death threats that would continue as he decided to run for mayor in the 1957
election, where he ran against John Clancy, a man endorsed by the infamous De Luca family.
According to Romero’s childhood friend Eddy Brown, he was always a man who had
something on his mind, “He never cared about what other people thought about him. He would
always talk about having to do the right thing for the sake of it being the right thing to do. To put
it lightly, he was the most self-righteous son of a bitch I knew, but I never doubted his sincerity.”
Many things remain unknown, but Achilles Romero leaves behind his work, the lives he saved,
and an example to follow.